Various aspects of the present invention relate generally to Web service technology, and more specifically, to the technology of automatically generating a Web service from a Web application under a service-oriented architecture.
The rapid development of service-oriented architecture principles is placing an increasing demand on Web services to function as a standards-based way to realize service oriented architecture implementations. A web service is a kind of service-oriented architecture technology that provides services via standard network protocols for the purpose of ensuring interoperation among application services on different platforms. In brief, a Web service is essentially an application programming interface (API) that can be called via a network, by means of programming. In other words, after a Web service is generated, the Web service is used by a Web application rather than being directly used by an end user. A Web application that calls the Web service is referred to as a client.
Considering in particular, the field of enterprise applications, with the growth of an enterprise, there might be many separate applications that were developed and deployed previously. These Web applications are also referred to as “legacy systems.” These separate “legacy systems” are not interrelated and thus may be understood as Web applications that are separate from each other. Such legacy systems provide clients of a corresponding enterprise or the enterprise itself, with services such as a human resource management system, an order system, or a supply chain management system, etc. All of these separate legacy systems may have been developed by different software service providers at different times. As client demands grow continuously, these existing “legacy systems” may no longer meet the demands of current markets.